Pine Nut Bar Cookies/Basic Dough Recipe

By MaryEllen

Ingredients

• Basic Bar Cookie Dough
• 1 (15-oz) box white cake mix
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 (3-oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, divided
• 2 to 3 Tbsp powdered sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Directions

In a large bowl, place cake mix, butter, cream cheese and egg. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat 2 to 2 minutes, stopping once to scrape down the bowl. Use the batter for any of the recipes that follow. For all recipes, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or spray the bottom and sides of a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.


1. Prepare Bar Cookie Dough as directed, adding almond extract. Divide dough in half. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Press remaining dough into the bottom of the prepared pan, leaving a 1-inch gap around the edges. Sprinkle with half the pine nuts, gently pressing into dough.

2. Bake 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown at edges and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

3. Let cool 30 minutes on a rack, then remove from pan. Repeat with remaining dough and pine nuts. Once cool, cut into strips and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Makes 100